Hallelujah,
What A Savior!
“But according to His
mercy…He saved us.” Titus 3:5b
The idea of salvation is a term that we can
identify with very easily. We
all know what it’s like to be in a predicament and have someone get us out of
it. It’s where we get the word
“salvage.” Financially, we understand
the word as it means that someone bailed you out. Physically, we recognize it to mean rescuing
a drowning victim or someone who is trapped with no way out. Whether you’ve
been in one of these situations or not isn’t the point as much as the fact that
sin has left us without help except for God.
The
Bible reminds us that we are in a predicament in need of God’s rescue through
the Scriptures:
-Romans 5:9-10 says, “Since we have now been
justified by His blood, how
much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him! For if, when
we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son,
how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!”
-Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For by grace are you
saved through faith…”
Now
at this point, the natural process is to see that Jesus came into the world
with a purpose in mind.
What was the purpose? There are a lot of good answers.
-He loves us and wants a relationship with us
(1 John 4:19
says, We love Him because He first loved us.”)
-He wanted to identify with our hurts
(Hebrews 4:15-16 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every
way, just as we are-yet was without sin.”)
- He wanted to give us direction and purpose
(Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned
to his own way.”
All
of these are important answers…but the most important answer was that He came
to save us. Now
the problem is, a lot of people think that they are just fine, “Thank you very
much.” But God reiterates that we are in a condition that requires we be freed,
and that it is He alone that is able to free us in our spiritual state.
on their back and can’t get up, so they are
considered “downcast.” Sheep get lost and have no sense of direction. Sheep have no sense of protection like other
animals. But most interestingly, sheep
have no defense mechanisms like most other animals. Since they have no ability to save
themselves, they need a shepherd that can do it for them. (God chose to
describe us that way.)
In
October of 1998, a 49 year-old Canadian mining executive named Norbert Reinhart
walked into the Colombian jungle hoping to walk back out with one of his
employees. For
many months, Ed Leonard, a 60 year-old driller who work for Norbert Reinhardt’s
drilling firm, had been held by the rebel group known as the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia. Kidnapping was
and is big business in Colombia. In 1998
alone, more than 2,100 people were abducted, though most were later released on
ransom. So Reinhart packed his
bags. He took his toothbrush, books,
camera, and $100,000 to pay for Ed Leonard’s ransom…though there were no
guarantees. Reinhart’s wife, Robin,
begged him not to go. Reinhart had
promised Leonard, a man he’d hired over the phone, that the job was safe…so he
was going to do whatever it took to get him home. On October 6, the guerrillas
took Reinhart’s ransom money but demanded an exchange as well. On a desolate road that afternoon, Reinhart
took Leonard’s place. As He met him for
the first time, Reinhart said, “Your shift is over.” He traded places with
Leonard and became the rebel’s captive.
When Reinhart was released unexpectedly a few months later, he said, “I
just did what I had to do.”
While the world around is changing rapidly,
God’s plan has always been very simple…and that is to change our view of Him
and what He wants to do in us. No
place do we see that more fitting than the message of salvation. He took your place…or He took your shift (as it were) on the cross. But the good news of His resurrection is that
He paid the ransom and now we are free.
Wow, imagine someone doing that for you or me?
Terry Risser
Reflections:
1) What can we do
today to take a new look at the idea of salvation?
2) Take time to
express your gratitude for His salvation and continual rescuing from sin that
He brings?
Consider reading the Word today:
Copyright
2014-Terry Risser
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